After an absence of mountain sports video games in recent years, there are three that will hit the market between now and early December. The first to arrive is "Mark McMorris Infinite Air," which attempts to deliver an ultra-simulation take on snowboarding.
Developer HB Studios has the pedigree in the sports genre that provides some instant credibility, having worked on franchises in the past that include "Tiger Woods," "Rugby" and "NBA Live." Their most recent effort, the independently developed "The Golf Club," was very similarily structured to "Infinite Air" and was well-received by both critics and consumers.
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Unfortunately, the same approach to snowboarding doesn't work nearly as well as it did with golf. Despite providing some intriguing creation tools, "Infinite Air" falls apart because of absurd difficulty tied largely to its poorly conceived control scheme.
"Infinite Air" utilizes only the sticks and the triggers for both controlling movement and pulling off moves. Precision is somewhat limited because of that and often it means a feeling of helplessness as things almost inevitably go wrong.
Right out of the gate, the tutorial doesn't do near a good enough job. It gets across some of the basics, but when it comes to doing anything interesting the user is left on his own to figure it out through repeated failure. It took me more than 30 tries in the actual tutorial specific to learning flips and spins before I could figure out how to pull off a flip or spin. Not to land one of them, which is another story, but to simply execute them. Needless to say, that isn't a great introduction to the game. Landing anything special in the context of an actual run is even more daunting of a task.
The biggest problem with "Infinite Air" is that it does nothing to encourage users to learn and improve through playing the game. Instead, it punishes through constant failure. It's quite possible that a sense of satisfaction would be found eventually, but it seems unlikely that many would ever reach that point.
It's unfortunate because there are some good ideas implemented with "Infinite Air." The standout is the ability to create runs and full parks on the game's procedurally generated mountains. The scope of options and ability to customize is impressive. Once a run is published, it can then be shared for others to play. It's certainly interesting to check out some of the unique runs and challenges put together by users.
Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of content to dig into otherwise, especially when considering the $50 price. There's what amounts to a campaign mode, which involves advancing from one challenge to the next by completing a number of objectives. Without a high level of skill, though, it feels futile, as requirements can involve reaching score levels or performing specific moves that are simply beyond your current capabilities.
Considering the amount of failure that will be experienced, it's worth mentioning that quick restarts are present. The runs reset basically instantaneously, which can alleviate some of the frustration because you're able to get right to your next attempt without any wait. There's at least that to be thankful for here.
The pure-simulation route for non-traditional sports seems best suited for those meant to be more serene than extreme. There just isn't much fun to be had with "Infinite Air" because of a steep learning-curve that isn't overcome in a reasonable amount of time.
Mark McMorris Infinite Air was reviewed on PlayStation 4 and is also available on Xbox One and PC. A download code was provided by the publisher for review purposes.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is co-founder of the sports gaming site HitThePass.com, hosts the Press Row Podcast, and be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre .